Jaguar Land Rover raises more cash than planned but pays the price

Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc saw very strong demand for its latest bond offering, but at a cost.

The British carmaker sold $700 million of notes on Wednesday, $200 million more than originally announced, but it came with a 7.75% coupon, the highest in the company’s capital structure.

The transaction was “well-timed" as it came on the back of a strong sales recovery in the second quarter and favorable conditions in financial markets, according to Trung Nguyen, a senior credit analyst with Lucror Analytics. It also took place before the release of the second quarter financial results, expected to be “weak", he wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday, before the deal priced.

Issuance has become increasingly costly for the company over the past two years. Jaguar’s struggles with an ineffective dealer network in China, concerns over Brexit and a government clampdown on diesel-powered vehicles made the bond offerings of the company late last year more expensive than the ones it had in place.

Now, the challenges posed by the pandemic have made its latest deal even costlier.

In response to a request for comment from Bloomberg News, a spokeswoman for Jaguar Land Rover wrote that the company was pleased to price its bond issue at the tight end of price talk, “reflecting the strong investor response."